Paternal Instinct
by floppybelly
Summary: This is an alternative ending to Maternal Instinct ep17. It's a What If scenario, where Plasmius's plans all came true. Just a little idea I had after seeing that episode. Please don't forget to review! Rated for violence, language, and mild suggestion.
1. Alert:all is not as it seems: Read this

To anyone reading this: the real start of the story is now actually in chapter 2. I didn't know if just editing this chapter and adding the rest of it on there would be a good thingor not, so just to make sure, I'm doing this instead. This way, anyone who has read what I put up the first time can comment on what I've added, and anyone who is new to the story can just read the whole first part in one piece.

:Sigh: I do wish there were a better way to do this, but for the moment I don't know how.


	2. Scene one

_Young Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen_  
_When his parents built a very strange machine,  
__It was designed to view a world unseen…  
__  
When it didn't quite work, his folks, they just quit.  
__Then Danny took a look inside of it.  
__There was a great big flash, everything just changed:  
__His molecules got all rearranged!_

_When he first woke up, he realized  
__He had snow-white hair and glowing green eyes.  
__He could walk through walls, disappear, and fly!  
__He was much more unique than the other guy._

_It was then Danny knew what he had to do:  
__He had to stop all the ghosts that were coming through.  
__And he's here to fight for me and you!  
__Gonna catch 'em all 'cause he's Danny Phantom._

**Paternal Instinct**

"Danny! Hurry up! You're late, and I'd like to start the lesson soon."  
"Coming!"  
Danny Fenton raced up the stairs to the third floor of the giant mansion, running along green rugs and gold tapestries, medal cabinets and pictures of the Green Bay Packers. He finally arrived at a door, adorned with an elaborate handle. He tried to go in, but found that the door was locked. "I can't get in, the door's locked."  
"Of course you can get in. I must keep the door locked to prevent today's lesson from escaping."  
Danny sighed, transformed to his ghost form, and phased through the door. "Do I want to know what it is?" he asked apprehensively.  
"You most certainly do, my boy. This should hold your interest quite well." Vlad Plasmius gestured with one hand towards a shield he was maintaining with the other hand. Inside the red shield was something Danny couldn't quite make out. It looked almost like a small shadow, but it cast a faint shadow of its own against the energy shield.  
Danny knelt down by the thing, and puzzled over it. "What is it?"  
"This is a phanpire. It is one of the most ancient of creatures, widely thought to be extinct. This particular specimen came from a small, secluded colony in Transylvania. Now, do you remember how to make a shaped shield like I taught you?" Danny nodded. "Very well. If you want a better look at it, make a shield and intercept mine with it. Try to contain the phanpire, and you can bring it up to have a closer look."  
Danny formed a shield between his hands and thrust it through Vlad's. He used it to try to capture the phanpire, but the thing scurried quickly around the dome-shaped shield Vlad had cast. After a few moments, he got an idea. He expanded his shield so that it was the same shape as Vlad's, but then shrank it down until the phanpire could no longer escape from it.  
"Very good, Danny." Vlad withdrew his shield, and Danny levitated his in front of his face, clasping hold of the now baseball-sized sphere with the struggling phanpire inside. It flashed a set of beady red eyes at him, and bared a pair of sharp teeth.  
"So… what does it do?"  
"It's very similar to a vampire bat, for it is a small parasitic creature that feeds on the life force of living creatures. Except it only preys on ghosts. It cannot touch humans, it is intangible in the physical world."  
"Cool, I get it! It's a phantom vampire! Phanpire!"  
"Precisely. As you'll see, this is why I've enabled the one-way ghost shield over the door. Just in case it got loose in this room." Danny already knew that the walls in the practice room and lesson room were impenetrable to ghosts and humans alike, so that sealing the door would make it hole-proof.  
"You did make sure to have a switch to that installed inside this room, right?"  
Vlad shot him a look.  
"Well, you know, just making sure. There was that one time…"  
"You will never let me live that down, will you? My mind was pre-occupied, and that's all there was to it."  
"Yeah, pre-occupied with my mom," Danny muttered.  
"Well I for one cannot help it if your mother is a highly seductive woman." Vlad, blushing slightly through his ghostly-blue skin, stepped forth and took the shield-ball from Danny. He carried it to a small glowing tank, placed it inside, and covered it with a glowing lid. He nodded to Danny, who withdrew his shield. "Now that we've had our fun, let's get to practicing, shall we?" He flicked what appeared to be a light switch, and the one-way shields over the doors vanished. Vlad led the way into the practice room through the door across from the one that led into the hallway.  
Danny immediately noticed that the practice room was much darker than normal. "Can't we turn on the lights?" Danny whined.  
"Not for today's lesson," Vlad replied. "Today I'm teaching you how to produce light. We need darkness in order to do it."  
Danny smugly held up a hand, glowing with stored spectral energy. "Is this what you mean? 'Cause I already know how-"  
Vlad shut his eyes, and opened them again quickly. A blinding stream of light rushed out of his pupils.  
Danny stopped talking.  
Vlad held this for a few seconds, then closed his eyes and re-opened them, the light now gone. "You see, Danny," he explained, "The glowing from your energy is merely a side-effect of the ghost element. In order to create true light, it must be a conscious, focused effort. It takes a great deal of practice and concentration to produce this bright of light." Danny nodded. This was what Vlad said about nearly every new trick that he taught Danny. Vlad continued, "This light can be produced from a number of places, including hands, mouth, and even ears or navel. But the most common utilization is through the eyes, as they are already light receptors. But each ghost is unique in where he produces this light, and you must discover for yourself how to find it. But to start, a little meditation never hurt. Delve deep within your power, Danny."  
Danny closed his eyes and focused on his ghost power. He had become well accustomed to these meditation sessions, ever since he had started learning from Vlad two years ago. He focused on the power that had grafted itself into him, become a part of him ever since the fateful incident over three years ago. For now, the power was in the external layer, and his human side was in the internal layer, but the two could be switched at any moment. He ran his mind through the spectral external layer, sensing not only his own powers, but also the glare of the powerhouse that was Vlad.  
"Focus, Danny. Become one with your ghost." Danny did as told, swimming through the complexities of the power that was connected to him. "Good…" Vlad purred. "Now, follow the current of the power, see if you can find an outlet."  
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.  
"While my power is similar to fire, I've noticed that yours is much like water, Danny. Follow the flow of the water, and see if it comes to an outlet, a place to come out."  
Danny searched, but didn't know what to look for.

* * *

Far away, across several states, Jasmine Fenton was finding an outlet of her own.  
"Hiya!" _Fwumf_. Jaz ferociously kicked the punching bag. She jumped and spun, kicking the bag several more times. Landing in a fighting stance, she punched the bag repeatedly, alternating upper hand, jabs, and straight-arm punches. She began adding kicks to her punches, and suddenly, whipped out a ghost blaster and blasted the punching bag, which promptly exploded.  
Jaz stared at the stub left over as the fluff floated down everywhere. "Damn, there goes another one. That's the third one this month."

* * *

After an hour or so of Danny in deep meditation and frustrated searching, Plasmius finally shook Danny out of his trance. "Come on, boy, that's enough for today. Let's go see if your mother has made anything for dinner." Danny stood up and stretched his tense limbs. Vlad reverted back to human form and Danny followed suit. Vlad led the way out the door, and Danny followed, squinting in the light after becoming accustomed to the dark of the practice room. Exiting the lesson room, Vlad sniffed the air. "Ah, now doesn't that smell just heavenly! I wonder what Maddie has cooked up for us this time." He walked briskly down to the dining room, where Maddie was just taking a dish out of the oven.  
"Hey, boys, how did your lesson go?" She asked, as she set the dish on the counter. "What's old Vlad teaching you nowadays? Learning much about ghosts like he promised?"  
"Old Vlad indeed." Vlad muttered. "But yes, we've been learning plenty about ghosts, I assure you, Maddie. Your son will be an expert on ghost powers by the time I'm done with him." He stalked off into the dining room, where there were three plates full of food already waiting.  
"Hey Mom, what'cha making? It smells good."  
"Oh, this? It's nothing, just my sweet potato casserole. Now stay out of it!" She scolded, as Danny tried to taste it, "It's for dessert. If you're that hungry, go join Vlad in the dining room." Danny did, and Maddie could hear Vlad telling him not to eat until his mother sat down. _Always the perfect gentleman,_ she thought. _So much more polite than Jack.  
_After clearing up the kitchen a bit more, Maddie came into the dining room and joined Danny and Vlad. She started inquiring about what sort of lessons Vlad was giving Danny. Vlad quickly made up a subject.  
"Recently, we've been studying the history of ghost acceptance. You know, such as when the general public stopped denying the existence of ghosts. We've also been going over common signs of how to recognize a ghost."  
"Oh, I remember studying just that," Maddie exclaimed. "Remember our days in college, Vlad?"  
"How could I forget," Vlad said in a monotone.  
"So tell me, Danny, how do you recognize a ghost?"  
"Um… they're green?" Danny stammered. He and Vlad had actually been doing no such lesson. He was just throwing things in the air.  
"Well, Danny obviously needs a tad bit more studying," Vlad said, "But that can be taken care of."  
"Well that's great," Maddie grinned, "I'm glad you two are learning so much."  
"Oh yes," Vlad replied, "We're learning more than you'd ever imagine."

* * *

Back in Amityville Park, Jaz was working in the Fentonworks laboratory. She was working on the Boooomerang, trying to get it repaired. She was also trying to add a return and GPS system, so that once the Boooomerang found its target, it would return to the sender with a location. Jaz was only using the device for one reason: it was locked to find Danny Phantom.

* * *

Danny lay in bed in his room in the mansion. He was running thoughts through his head. He still had the light technique on his mind, and wondered what he was supposed to be looking for. He thought back to all the things Vlad had taught him in his two years of staying with him. They were all things he could never have learned on his own, things he would never have even thought of trying. And not only that, but he had furthered his previous skills, learned how to develop them and make them stronger. For instance, he could now split his form into two complete copies, and was working on splitting a second time. And to just think, none of this would have happened if Vlad hadn't done what he did. Danny's mind flashed back to that night two years ago.  
There they'd been, stranded in the woods, and Vlad had welcomed them into his home. Of course, it had been Vlad who had stranded them in the first place, so naturally Danny didn't trust him. Especially when he had asked Danny and his mother to move in with him. But when they had to resort to lying through their teeth to try to get home, Vlad became a whole new person. He was under the impression that his plan was working, and it was doing quite a number on him. He became almost loving, resembling a father figure. He immediately welcomed Danny with open arms, and even though Danny didn't trust him for quite some time, his cold interior quickly melted away the longer he stayed with him. As it turned out, Maddie had to stay at Vlad's mansion longer than expected, because for the oddest reason, Vlad didn't seem to have a phone either. And then, the next week, the news came.  
Vlad picked up his newspaper in the morning, as he always did, and came rushing into the house to show the Fentons an article. True, it wasn't front page, but it still managed to catch his attention. There was a picture of the Fentonworks, with a large hole busted in the side. Next to it, it said, "WORLD RENOWNED GHOST-HUNTER DIES FROM GHOST ATTACK IN OWN HOME." The article talked about how investigators had responded to a call from a next-door neighbor. When they arrived at the scene, they followed a trail of damage from the hole in the wall to the upstairs bedroom, where they found the body of Jack Fenton, badly mauled, and covered in ectoplasm. It also mentioned that the whereabouts of the ghost hunter's family were unknown, presumed dead.  
Understandably, Maddie and Danny were crushed. Having no family to go back to, they had practically no choice but to stay with Vlad as they had lied and said they would. Danny at first was miserable, refusing to talk to Vlad and even his mother on occasion. But as Maddie settled in and became accustomed to living with Vlad, she expected Danny to do the same. So she asked Vlad, who had been a retired college professor, to start Danny in tutoring. She specifically asked Vlad, since they had been partners in college, to teach Danny about ghosts, as she still saw it as his heritage, having come from two ghost-hunters. Vlad was more than happy to comply, having his own idea of "ghost lessons."  
Eventually, Maddie and Vlad came together, as Vlad had always dreamed of since college. After a year of living with Vlad, the pair actually had a small private wedding. Maddie took the name Masters, but Danny chose to keep his name Fenton. He still had some suspicion that Vlad was behind his father's death, and he didn't want to take the name of his father's murderer, just in case. It took Danny a long time to come to trust Vlad, but eventually the two became good friends through the practice and training they had gone through. Danny could occasionally even be heard calling Vlad "Dad."  
And in the meantime, Plasmius continued to teach Danny. He had a vast wealth of knowledge that he was all too happy to pass on. He had been training on his own for years, always believing he was the only one of his kind. That was, until he found Danny. Now he had someone to relate to, and it really started to change his character. Instead of the lonely, cranky, crime-committing old man he had been, he started to become more outgoing, less criminal, and very warm towards his new family. And even though Danny still caught criminal ghosts sneaking around the mansion on occasion, even he had to admit that Vlad seemed to be on his way to becoming "good."  
Danny's mind oftentimes wandered to his old life, too. He thought about Jaz, and how she had kept his secret safe… and how he'd never had a chance to thank her for it, or even say goodbye. Danny still held a small hope in the back of his mind: they ever found her body. It could mean, of course, that the ghosts had devoured her entirely, but there was still that hope.  
And he thought about his old friends, Sam and Tucker. He imagined them standing shocked in front of the busted Fentonworks, overcome with grief. Tucker burying his face in his hands, and Sam… Danny felt a strong pang of guilt. He'd never had the chance to admit his true feelings for her, and now it was too late. He'd probably never see her again, and she thought he was dead. _Good going on _that_ relationship, Fenton,_ he thought. _You've completely abandoned nearly all of the people who ever cared about you.  
__Well what was I supposed to do about it?_ Another voice answered back. _There was nothing I could do to reach them. Vlad keeps us isolated.  
__And that doesn't seem strange to you?_ The first voice countered back, _That he leaves you no way to talk to your friends?  
__Well… yeah. But I'm sure he has his reasons.  
__He sure does. He doesn't want you going back to your old life, he wants to keep you here. Why else would he do it?  
__I know, but still… just think, by the time I go back home, I'll have ten times the skill I did when I left. I'll be able to protect the city even better.  
__If there even is a city to come back to.What will they do if a ghost attacks and you're not there do defend them? They'll all die, that's what!  
__That's… not my problem right now.  
__You keep telling yourself that, and you'll lose who you are, everything you've worked for, and all that you stand for.  
__Well… maybe I'm someone different now.  
__You sure aren't Danny Phantom anymore.

* * *

End scene one!  
Commercial break! Yay!_


	3. Scene 2

**Scene 2**

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Jaz yelled from the basement. "The door's open." The door swung open and Tucker Foley walked in, followed by Sam. "I'm in the basement," Jaz called. Sam and Tucker joined her downstairs. Jaz was stooped over something on the counter, and without even looking up said "Hey guys" when she heard their footsteps on the metal floor.

"Hey Jaz," said Tucker. "What'cha working on?"

"It's one of my da-… it's an old gadget from a long time ago. Remember the Boooomerang?"

"How could we forget," Sam smirked. "That thing was causing Danny trouble from the first time it ever locked on to him. It would follow him everywhere, even to school!" Sam paused a split second, "So let me guess- you're going to use that to-"

"I'm going to find Danny," Jaz stated. "But first I need to give this thing a tracking system. It won't help if I don't know where it goes."

"I can help with that," Tucker spoke up, "It sounds like all you need is a GPS tracking chip."

"I actually already have one," Jaz replied, "I just can't figure out how to get the darn thing connected."

"Here, let me see that." Tucker hunkered over the device, and began fiddling with its many circuits. "Ah, here's the problem! All you've gotta do is hook up the defibrillator to the motherboard, and…" While Tucker worked on the little machine, Jaz and Sam went back upstairs. Sam put on some music, and Jaz made herself some coffee.

She sat down across from Sam and buried her head in her hands. "Sam, look at me. What have I become? The very thing I never wanted to be: my parents. What am I gonna do?"

Sam was used to Jaz's mental breakdowns. If she wasn't putting all her anger into training, obsessing over finding her mom and brother, or doing some school-related extra-curricular activity, she was usually doing some self-contemplation. And since Danny had been the linking factor between them, she'd taken to hanging out with Sam and Tucker recently. Sam usually just let her work it out for herself, and then she'd be good to go for another day or so. She'd been like this ever since Jack's funeral.

"And I mean, I could have saved him!" Jaz blubbered on, not noticing that Sam wasn't listening. "But no, all I did was hide in the closet, right when he needed me most! And to think I could have saved him, if only I hadn't been too proud to- to- be like hiiihiimmmm!" Jaz broke down sobbing.

"Hey, uh…" Tucker came upstairs. "Am I interrupting something? 'Cause I got the Boooomerang ready."

"Oh good!" Jaz brightened up immediately. "I knew I could count on you Tucker! You're so good at what you do, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to." Tucker grimaced.

"Rrright." Tucker stepped outside the front door, turned on the Boooomerang, and gave it a good toss. It went slicing through the air, in a westward direction. "All set. We're on our way to finding Danny."

* * *

Several hours later, in a patch of woods outside Vlad's mansion, Danny and Vlad were putting their powers to practice in a sparring match.

"Alright, Danny, see what you can do to fend this off!" Vlad shot a powerful ghost ray at Danny, who easily blocked it with a shield. He then retaliated with a ghostly wail. Plasmius tried to shield against it, but his barrier was broken after a second or two. Flying above the range of the sonic blast, he quickly split his image into four. All four Vlads then swooped down upon Danny, and began pummeling him with their fists.

Danny tried to block the punches, but there were simply too many. He could feel the hits landing, one by one, all of them nearly hard as rocks. But then- _clang!_ Something hit Danny's head that felt more like metal than a fist. "Ow! Hey, no weapons!"

Vlad stopped his assault and congealed his forms together again, folding his arms over his chest. "That was not my doing."

"Well then what was it? That really hurt!"

"It sounded like something metal."

Danny rolled his eyes. "No, really? Well where did it go?"

"Don't take that tone with me, young man. I didn't even see anything. Come, let's go inside. That's enough for today." Vlad floated down several feet, then changed to human and dropped the rest of the way, landing easily on his feet. Danny followed suit. Vlad straightened up, and with an expression of pain, clasped his hand to his back. "I'm getting too old for this," he said pitifully.

Danny said nothing and followed him in.

* * *

Several hours later, in Amity Park, Jaz was resting in the living room, reading a magazine when she heard a _clang _at the door. She set the magazine down, and went to open the door. There was no one there, but on the doormat rested the Boooomerang. When she picked it up, the sensor light was blinking and the screen showed a map with two blinking dots. One of them was in Amity Park, and the other… was in Wisconsin. Jaz slapped her head. "Why didn't I think of this before?"

She tossed the Boooomerang onto the couch, then hurried to the phone and dialed Sam's number. After a ring or two, the line picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Jaz Fenton. Is Sam there?"

"Sure," her mom answered, "I'll go get her." Jaz could hear her yelling in the background at Sam.

Sam came to the phone. "Hello?"

"Sam, the Boooomerang came back. You have to call Tucker and come over."

"Wait, it came back already? What's it say?"

"Call Tucker, then come and see!" Jaz hung up.

About half an hour later, Jaz opened the door when Sam knocked on it, and Sam and Tucker came in anxiously. Tucker rushed over to the couch, grabbed the Boooomerang, glanced at the readout, and broke out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jaz demanded. Tucker couldn't stop laughing for several seconds, but then finally gained control.

"Danny's in Wisconsin," he said finally.

"Vlad Masters." Sam concluded shortly. "He must be holding him captive."

"This is actually a lot better than I thought it would turn out," Jaz stated. "At least he's not stuck in the ghost zone. Or… dead."

"So do you think your mom is there too?" Sam asked.

"If Vlad has anything to say about it, she will be. He's hopelessly in love with her."

"Eeewww." Sam and Tucker both pronounced.

"We have to go find him," Sam said. "But how?"

"Road trip!" Tucker exclaimed.

* * *

In the mansion, Danny was getting ready for bed. Walking down the rather long hallway in his pajamas, he was nearly to the bathroom when a door opened on the other side. Vlad came out into the hallway and went to the bathroom, pausing in the doorframe. To Danny he spoke apologetically, "Sorry, Daniel, would you mind going to the bathroom down on the second floor instead? I'd go myself, but my bladder is killing me."

"Sure," Danny mumbled, and shuffled his way down a flight of stairs to yet another hallway. Passing several doors, he finally came to a white door with a crystal handle. He opened it and fumbled about for a light switch. Finding it, he flicked the lights on. There on the toilet seat sat a vulture. A glowing green, balding vulture wearing a fez.

"Kraaak!" the vulture shrieked, "Don't you peoples knock?"

"Ugh," Danny groaned. "What are you still doing here?"

"Vot? A vulture can't even take a crap arvound here visout beink spied on? Vot is sis vorld comink to?"

"No, I meant…" Danny was at a loss for words. "Look, just geddouta here, wouldja? The bathroom upstairs was already taken. I really gotta go by now."

"Votever." The vulture went intangible and floated upwards.

"And watch it, don't go through the-" the vulture disappeared. "-ceiling."

Danny sighed, then took his much needed bathroom leave. After freshening up, brushing his teeth, and turning the light back off, he started his way back up to his room. Passing the master bedroom on the third floor, he could hear Vlad's and his mother's voices having fun together. This had become a common occurrence recently. Danny considered saying something, but decided to simply let it pass and just went on to his bedroom. He laid down under the comforter and was just about asleep…. When he heard a crash come from below.

Danny sat straight up in his bed, now instantly alert. Standing up, he converted to ghost form. (He'd dropped the "I'm going ghost!" battle cry ages ago after Vlad had ridiculed him for it for far too long.) He phased through his bed, dropping through several floors until he reached the basement. This was restricted territory; it was Vlad's personal lab. It had no physical entrance, and the only means of entry was by way of either phasing through the walls… or the ghost portal. This room contained a ghost portal, almost identical to the only other one of its kind, the one that had been shut down and retired for two years in the Fentonworks in Amity Park.

Standing just outside the ghost portal, broken beaker at its feet, was a ghost. Danny had never seen anything like it before. It was unstable-looking, as though it wasn't able to keep a solid form. Or that it didn't want to, rather. For one second, it appeared to be human-shaped, but then Danny rubbed his eyes- now it was cat-shaped. No, now it was bird-shaped, bear-shaped, robot-shaped… the form was unidentifiable. It seemed to be everything at once.

Danny floated to the floor and became visible again. "Who are you?" He said to the ghost uncertainly.

"I am the Changeling," replied the ghost. Its voice was many voices at once, male, female, young, old, deep, high, sterile, tinny… its voice was just as inconstant as its appearance. "And who be you, ghost-child? Friend or foe?"

"Uhhh… I don't know yet." Danny had never actually had the chance to consider a question such as this. He'd always assumed that all other ghosts were enemies. "But why don't you tell me why you're here first?"

"I have ventured far across the ghost zone," replied the Changeling in its unnatural voice, "but never had I seen a portal such as this. I was intrigued, so I investigated further."

Just then, Vlad sank through the ceiling. Dropping to the ground, he turned with furrowed eyebrows to Danny. "What are you doing in my lab? You know this room is restricted." Danny started to answer, but was stopped short. "And who is this most interesting being? And why are you destroying my lab equipment?"

"I am the Changeling!" the ghost bellowed again, this time significantly more annoyed. "I only came through the portal through sheer interest. I was curious as to what was behind a giant football," it said with a bit of a smirk on its ever-changing face. "But now I am here, and I am immediately assaulted with half-ghosts who claim to own what is on the other side of this portal! What have I come across?"

Vlad coolly replied, "This is my personal laboratory. The ghost portal connects here because I built it. Now, if you'd kindly go back where you came from, I'd much appreciate it."

"Now why would I go back to a place I've just destroyed," said the Changeling with an evil grin, "when this new place has so much potential?"


End file.
